


Autumn in Berk

by TheEndeavorNetwork



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Hiccstrid hesitation, Hiccup vs Snotlout, Multi, Warning: Viking cursing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-17
Updated: 2016-06-29
Packaged: 2018-07-15 16:44:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7230505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheEndeavorNetwork/pseuds/TheEndeavorNetwork
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During a lovely Berk Autumn, Hiccup struggles to ask Astrid to become more than a friend and also has some run-ins with Snotlout. Contains the origin of Hiccup's sword Inferno!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Race

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, everyone! This is the first fanfic that I ever wrote. I published it 3/3/2015 on fanfiction.net. I'm putting it up here now. While, I move it over, I will be making some grammatical changes and things like that, but I won't change the plot. It has some flaws, but it's my first fic, and I have new ones to focus on.  
> So, without further ado, I bit you welcome and introduce myself to AO3. :)

 It was an Indian summer in Berk. The pale blue sky was only partially covered by light grey clouds. It was a lovely, relatively warm afternoon. Everyone was taking full advantage of the rare weather. On the east side of the island, the village was gathered for dragon racing.

 The arena was brand-new. The entire structure was on stilts, lifting the spectators up so they could see the action. On a large chair separated from the rest of the seating, sat Stoick, with Gobber sitting next to him. Standing up, Stoick turned to Gobber.

 "Let's go check on the riders, Gobber."

 Gobber, who was fiddling with his hook, looked up, slightly surprised.

 "Oh. Alright, Chief."

 They walked down the tall staircase and made their way to the dragon academy. The gate was open, and excited voices drifted out. As Stoick strode in, he called loudly and cheerfully, "Hello, dragon riders! How are we feelin' today?"

 All the riders were painting themselves and their dragons. Hiccup looked up from painting Toothless's face.

 "Hey, Dad! What are you doing here?"

 "Aahh, just thought I'd check up on you."

 Even Stoick was susceptible to the wonderful weather.

 "I'm feelin' lucky," Astrid almost sang, stretching her arms.

 "I wouldn't be too sure of that, Astrid," Snotlout announced loudly.

 He turned and patted Hookfang's snout.

 "Hookfang and I are going to _win_ today."

 Astrid laughed and put her hand on her hip.

 "You two haven't won _yet_."

 "Yes we have!" he said indignantly, "We won once. In Spring, remember?"

 He turned back to Hookfang and stroked his snout, while the dragon blinked lazily up at him.

 "I don't consider that winning. There was no competition. I was injured, and Hiccup was away…"

 "Astrid!" said Fishlegs, frowning and patting Meatlug's head.

 "Sorry, Fishlegs. But, honestly."

 Snotlout puffed out his chest.

 "Alright. We'll show you. It's on, Astrid."

 With that, he leaped onto Hookfang's back and yelled, "Ok, Chief, are we ready to go now?"

 Hiccup turned and muttered to Astrid, "Isn't it always on?"

 She chuckled.

 "Well, uh…" Stoick began, rubbing his hand together, "If you're all ready, I guess it's time to go. When you hear the horn…"

 "Alright!" said the twins simultaneously.

 "C'mon, girl," Fishlegs said as he slid onto Meatlug, "You're gonna do great."

 She growled affectionately. Meanwhile, Stoick walked over to Hiccup and clapped him on the shoulder, making him stagger a little.

 "Don't give Snotlout anything to brag about, son."

 "Dad, I've been riding for two years. Don't worry about it."

 "Yeah. 'Course. And…don't give Astrid any way, either. I mean…I know you like her and all, but –,"

 "Dad!" Hiccup whispered, while glancing fearfully over at her.

 "Oh, sorry. Anyway, do good, son."

 He smacked his shoulder again. As Stoick and Gobber left the ring, Hiccup and Astrid leapt onto their dragons. Toothless made a few paces forward, eager for the competition. Snotlout seemed to be muttering a sort of pep talk to Hookfang. They could all feel the moment the horn rang getting nearer. All the dragons, even Hookfang, were shuffling excitedly. Toothless tensed his shoulders, ready to bound out the gate.

 "Wait, bud," Hiccup muttered to him.

 Toothless glanced up curiously.

 "Astrid?" Hiccup said.

 She looked over, eyebrows raised.

 "After you," he said, and gestured gentlemanly toward the gate.

 She grinned at him.

 "Thank you," she said sweetly.

 Just then, the horn rang.

 She wasted no time and soared out the ring. Hiccup and Toothless were right after her, then came Snotlout and Hookfang, the twins on Barf and Belch, and finally Fishlegs and Meatlug. As they all came into view, the arena exploded with roars of excitement.

 "Alright, bud!" Hiccup yelled over the cheers, "Let's check out the forest."

 Toothless hummed his approval, and they turned around. The others were scouring the village. There were lots of places for their quarry to hide there, so the sheep tended to favor it, but there was also more competition because of it. Most of the time, Hiccup preferred to avoid the hullabaloo and look for the few sheep that could usually be found in the forest.

 Sure enough, he found one in just a couple of minutes and another five minutes after that. He held one under each arm as they swung around and headed back to the arena. As they got near, Hiccup could hear his father's booming voice:

 "Oh! Almost, Ruffnut!...Oh- _ho_! Good one, Astrid!"

 Hiccup grinned. Nothing could make his dad more un-Stoick than dragon-racing.

 Soon, he was right over the arena. He flew low and gently dropped the two sheep into his net.

 "Ha-ha! Hiccup is the second scorer! 1 for Astrid, 2 for Hiccup!"

 By the time Stoick called the score, Hiccup was already out of the arena and flying to the village. Sure, he did like to know he had a secure score early on, but that didn't mean that he didn't like to join the hullabaloo every once in a while.

 And it definitely was a hullabaloo.

 Snotlout and the twins had got their hands on the same sheep, and Tuffnut and Snotlout were wrestling over it 30 feet in the air while the horrified-looking sheep dangled between them, its horns held in the jaws of Hookfang and Belch. Meanwhile, a flock of sheep was being pursued by Fishlegs, but every time he flew low to get the one with the target, Astrid swooped down and scattered them.

 Finally frustrated enough, Fishlegs shouted: "Oh, come on, Astrid! Not fair!" to which she responded: "All's fair in battle, Fishlegs!"

 "But this isn't battle!" he said exasperatedly.

 "It is to me!" she laughed as she swooped down and snatched up the sheep.

 " _Grrrrr_ …" Fishlegs grumbled angrily as she turned around and flew towards the arena.

 On the way, she met Hiccup.

 "Looks fun out there!" Hiccup called.

 She laughed again.

 "Yeah!" she said and looked over her shoulder in time to see Tuff bring his hammer down on Snotlout's helmet while Ruff cheered him on.

 "I think I'd better go end that fight…" Hiccup said and grinned.

 "Go for it!" she said before flying off.

 Hiccup leaned down, flattening himself against Toothless's back. He patted the side of his head.

 "Ok, bud; we're goin' in."

 Toothless growled, and they both narrowed their eyes as Toothless began flapping his great black wings harder. As they neared the others, Toothless tucked in his wings, and they shot towards Snotlout and the twins like an arrow. The distinct whistling sound of a night fury shooting through the air made the other three riders look up. But it was too late.

 Hiccup reached out and embraced the sheep. His momentum dragged its horns out of the two dragons' mouths. He heard their heads smack together loudly behind him.

 "Ha! Good job, bud!"

 He reached down and patted Toothless, who purred back. The sheep seemed to bleat its thanks. They wheeled back around to the arena and dropped the sheep into their net.

 Over the next 15 minutes, the game never let down in intensity. The twins got into two more fights: one with Astrid and another with Snotlout. Hiccup managed to pluck several sheep from under Snotlout's nose, which seemed to greatly annoy him, much to Hiccup's amusement. And Astrid stole Fishlegs' sheep three more times.

 " _Astriiiid!_ " he wailed furiously the last time as they all raced back to the arena to drop their sheep off before the last lap.

 "Sorry, Fishlegs!" she called over her shoulder "You know it's nothing personal!"

 Suddenly, Hiccup, who was already holding a sheep, saw an opportunity.

 "Hey, Toothless," he whispered, "I've got an idea."

 Astrid was only 40 feet from the arena. She was close to winning: she was only 5 points behind Hiccup. Once she added this one to her score, and then if she got the black sheep, she would win for the first time in three games. Just a little closer…

 She gasped as she suddenly felt a powerful tug beneath her. Stormfly screeched. Astrid looked down and saw Toothless's black belly. Hiccup and Toothless were coasting upside down, and they had snatched her sheep! The next moment, they had flipped over and she saw Hiccup grinning.

 "Hiccup!" she yelled in anger and disbelief.

 He looked back, still grinning.

 "Sorry, Astrid. All's fair in battle, though, right?"

 She stared in shock as he threw both sheep into the net. The next moment though, she shook it off. No. She was going to win. Forget about him and just focus. Just three more sheep and then the black one, and she would be victorious.

 It was getting down to the wire. Fewer sheep, more excitement, and antsier riders and dragons. Fishlegs got in the zone and earned three more points. Once, when Hiccup was flying low over the stables, Astrid swooped in haphazardly next to him, almost hitting him with Stormfly's wing.

 "Whoa!" he yelled as he gripped his saddle.

 Then he glanced up and saw her face. Her eyes were fixed on the ground in front of her, but they didn't have any less effect on him.

 "Oh no," he thought.

 He decided to stay out of her way for a while, and flew off to look somewhere else.

 Astrid did find two more sheep, but Snotlout had made a lot of gains while she was searching. He was now almost even with her: just a one sheep difference.

 "Don't worry, girl. We're gonna find that sheep. We can do this." She told Stormfly encouragingly.

 Stormfly chirped her agreement.

 "Astrid!" she heard Hiccup say to her left.

 "I'm busy right now, Hiccup!" she yelled irritably, keeping her eyes fixed ahead.

 "I know!"

 Frowning, she glanced over. He was flying a little below her and holding out…a sheep! He had an apologetic smile on his face and extended the offering out to her at saddle-level. For a moment, she stared at it. But then, she reached out, grabbed it, and flew off to the arena.

 Hiccup gazed after her and sighed.

 "Well, at least I tried," he thought.

 No sooner had Astrid tossed the sheep into the net, than the final lap was called. Gobber had already set up the catapult, and was ready to fire the black sheep when the riders came around.

 "C'mon, Stormfly!" Astrid urged as they sped toward the cliff near where the sheep would be launched.

 Hiccup had already taken up a secret position on the wall of the sheer cliff. Toothless had dug his claws into the cracks, and they quietly awaited the release of the sheep. The plan was that they were going to shoot out of nowhere, startling everyone else, and grab the sheep. Above them, they could already see the other riders bustling to get closer to the catapult. Hiccup and Toothless waited tensely for the right moment to appear.

 "Almost. Easy, bud….Hold, Toothless…Ok, NOW!"

 Gritting his teeth as he dug his claws in, Toothless bounded up the cliff face, flapping his wings as he went, picking up momentum till they let go. They flew straight up, gaining speed. Above him, Hiccup could see the sheep being released, Astrid rushing forward, Fishlegs and the twins tangling…But he was going to reach it. He could feel it. His speed was perfect. No one would be able to get it before him.

 As he came within 10 feet, Toothless stretched out his front claws…

 And then Snotlout suddenly appeared, flying straight at them.

 The collision was like a being struck by a log. There was a cracking sound from both sides: Hiccup's forehead had met with Toothless's skull, and Snotlout's helmet made contact with one of Hookfang's horns. Hiccup's eyesight had gone white and then all crackly for a few moments, and he had the unexplainable sensation that gas had exploded inside his head. He felt like he needed a moment to take everything in. So when he slipped off Toothless's back, he wasn't really so concerned.

 But everyone else was. He heard people gasp and scream his name, his father and Astrid loudest among them. Toothless roared and clawed through the air at him as they free-fell. Despite the initial daze, Hiccup was used to falling and knew what to do.

 He reached out his hand to Toothless, who promptly spun around so his back faced Hiccup. The heavy dragon quickly caught up, Hiccup hooked his foot into the stirrup, and they easily went into a vertical climb. Astrid drew even beside them.

 "Are you ok?" she asked worriedly.

 "Huh? Well, yeah, I'm ok," he said, rubbing his forehead.

 When they reached the top, Fishlegs flew toward him.

 "Whoa, are you ok, Hiccup? Do you have a concussion?"

 "Oh no, I'm fine, Fishlegs. Thanks."

 Ruff chimed in: " _Duuude_ , that was a tough hit. And look, he's _totally_ getting away with it!"

 "Uuh, what d'you mean?" Hiccup asked, still a little fuzzy.

 Ha glanced over at Astrid, who was staring off in the direction of the arena with an even more disbelieving face than when Hiccup had stolen her sheep.

 "It means," she said slowly, "That Snotlout's got the black sheep!"

 "What?!" Hiccup said and squinted at the arena.

 Sure enough, the beefy boy was riding to the arena with a black sheep in his monstrous nightmare's claws.

 Hiccup gritted his teeth. That was enough. It really was on now.

 "Are we back on it, guys?" he asked, glaring after Snotlout.

 "Oh yeah!" said the twins.

 "Absolutely!" said Fishlegs.

 "Go get him," said Astrid.

 He glanced at her quickly, then back to the prize.

 "Right," he said as he flattened himself against Toothless's back.

 Toothless took that as the cue.

 They were off, racing to the finish. But Hiccup and Toothless were way ahead of the rest. The world was starting to blur as they gained on the red dragon. Out the corner of his eye, Hiccup could see his father leap to his feet, pounding his fist in the air. But Hiccup couldn't hear anything. His wings were too loud. Snotlout turned around too late.

 CRASH again! This time, however, Hiccup made sure to press himself tightly against Toothless. Snotlout howled in pain, and the crowd roared. Hiccup looked down. The black sheep wasn't with Snotlout anymore, but it wasn't on the ground either. He looked up to see Astrid hurl it into her net.

 "Astrid wins!" Stoick yelled.

 The crowd whooped and cheered. Astrid landed on the net bulkhead and dismounted Stormfly. She pumped her fist in the air and grinned. She looked so happy, Hiccup didn't even really mind losing. Besides, he owed her anyway. And there were other things he was more concerned with right now.

 Both he and Snotlout landed their dragons and faced each other. Snotlout glared at Hiccup as he rubbed his nose.

 "What is your _problem_ , Snotlout?" Hiccup asked loudly, holding out his arms.

 "My problem? My problem is that you just crashed into me and my dragon," Snotlout said defensively.

 "You crashed into _me_ first! On _purpose_!"

 "No way! It was an accident!"

 Hiccup snorted loudly.

 "Yeah, right. And I'm a terrible terror. _Listen_ , Snotlout, I have had enough of you. Y'know, for years, I've overlooked it. I've worked with it. I thought: 'Hey, y'know, that's just how he is'. And I've sucked it up. But not anymore! You put _my_ life in danger _and_ Toothless's, and that's _not_ ok!"

 Snotlout looked slightly taken aback, but he quickly regained his bearings.

 "I never put anyone's life in danger!"

 Hiccup laughed a sharp, dry laugh and retorted, " _Never?_ Snotlout, you wouldn't know it if you _killed_ someone. Do you know how many times you've risked the team because you were being so reckless? You don't think about anyone but yourself."

 "I do _not!_ I work for the team!"

 Snotlout was starting to look like he was swelling with rage.

 "Are you _sure?_ " Hiccup asked, raising his eyebrows and leaning forward, "Because I remember you saying, on many an occasion, that you always look out for yourself first. _'Snotlout is Number One'_!"

 Hiccup shook one finger in the air. Snotlout gripped Hookfang's horns and gritted his teeth.

 "Oh, yeah?! Well, I don't see anyone pointing out when Mr. High-and-Mighty Dragon Master makes mistakes!"

 Hiccup scoffed in disbelief.

 "I am _not_ a 'dragon master', but you, Snotlout, are the _furthest_ thing from that!"

 It appeared that was the last straw. Both their eyes glinted with anger. Snotlout gripped Hookfang's horns harder and leaned forward. Placing a hand on top of his saddle, Hiccup raised himself in his seat and narrowed his eyes. Their dragons growled at each other and clawed the grass.

 "My bet's on Hiccup," Gobber muttered to the Viking next to him.

 "Enough!" shouted Stoick, making both young men jerk their heads upward.

 "That's enough," he said and then proceeded to come down the stairs.

 When he arrived, he stood in between them.

 "Alright. Let's deal with this…" he began.

 "You saw what he did!" Snotlout blurted out, pointing an accusatory finger at Hiccup.

 "You saw what _he_ did!" Hiccup responded, gesturing to Snotlout.

 "Yes, I saw what _both_ of you did," Stoick said seriously, "But the first thing I saw was you, Snotlout, crash deliberately into Hiccup when he didn't have the sheep."

 "But we crash into each other all the time," Snotlout pointed out, gesturing to the other riders standing on the bulkhead.

 "Well, yes. But with Hiccup's…special condition, I think we should be a bit more careful, don't you think?'

 Snotlout wasn't about to argue with the chief's mandate. He scowled and glanced at Hiccup.

 "Yes, Chief."

 "Alright. Now that's settled…," Stoick said, clapped his hands together, and then announced in a raised voice, "Let's all head to the Great Hall for some celebration in honor of our victor, Astrid!"

 The crowd cheered. Now that a fight was off the table, food seemed the next best thing. As Snotlout flew away, and everyone began leaving the arena, Stoick looked over Hiccup carefully.

 "You alright, son? Head ok?"

 "Yeah," Hiccup muttered, "Look, I'll see you later, Dad. I just need a fly."

 He turned Toothless in the direction of the sea. Stoick looked a little disappointed.

 "Oh. Well, I'll see you tonight then."

 "Yeah, ok, Dad."

 The pair took off into the air, flying out to the flat blue sea as the sky turned pink.


	2. Triple-Trouble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, if you liked the first chapter, I guess you're back!  
> Please enjoy!

After a couple hours of relaxed soaring over the ocean, Hiccup and Toothless both got hungry, so they turned around and headed back to Berk. By the time they landed in front of the Great Hall, the feast was already a raucous celebration. He could hear people singing, shouting, and laughing inside.

He pulled the door open and entered. All the fires around the room were roaring cheerfully, filling it with warm orange light. Right in front of him, he saw Astrid passing.

"Hey, Astrid!" he said, reaching out a hand.

She stopped and looked at him.

"Congratulations," he said.

"Thanks," she said without smiling.

"And, hey, I'm…" he began hesitantly, "…sorry about the sheep thing."

"Sure."

He stared at her face, worried.

"I'm really sorry, Astrid," he said again with an almost urgent edge.

She shrugged and started to walk away.

"I gave you another one, though, didn't I?" he called almost pleadingly after her, but she didn't turn around.

He stood there, scowling, with Toothless at his side.

"Darn it," he muttered.

Toothless, apparently too hungry to put up with Hiccup's romantic gripes, walked off to get some fish from the barrels in the back of the hall. While Hiccup stood there pouting, his father saw him and strode over.

"Ah, Hiccup! Glad you could make it, son!"

When he reached his son, he put a great arm around his shoulders and led him to the large elliptical table where the chief and his friends were sitting. After they sat down, he called for someone to bring Hiccup a plate.

"So, son…" he began, as Hiccup's food arrived, "…quite a race earlier!"

"Yeah," Hiccup said as he picked up his chicken.

"And you almost got in your first fist-fight, too!" Stoick said in a pleased sort of voice.

Hiccup looked up, surprised. Actually, by the look of him, Hiccup assumed his dad had already had a few pints of mead.

"Wow, Dad. I mean, if you're so happy about it, why didn't you just let us fight?"

Stoick grinned, leaned in sneakily, and nudged his son with his elbow.

"Well, can' go stealin' Astrid's thunder now, can we?" he whispered.

Both Stoick and Hiccup glanced over to where Astrid was sitting, many tables away. She was talking cheerfully with her family.

"No, guess not," Hiccup muttered.

Suddenly, Toothless showed up. He nudged Hiccup affectionately on the shoulder. Hiccup turned and rubbed the side of his head.

"Hey, bud. Had enough to eat?"

Toothless purred. Hiccup turned back to look at his plate, which wasn't finished yet. He took a few huge bites out of the chicken, chewed for several seconds, swallowed painfully, and then stood up.

"Hey, Dad, I'm going down to the armory."

Stoick looked disappointed again.

"But you haven't finished your food, yet."

Hiccup shrugged.

"Let the terrible terrors have it."

As if on cue, five terrible terrors appeared from under the table and leapt up, some onto Hiccup's seat and some next to his plate.

"Hey, guys," he said warmly as he patted each of their heads in turn, "It's all yours."

Squeaking happily, they immediately set to devouring and fighting over his food. Toothless scowled at them. He had always sort of disliked terrible terrors for their impudence. Also, Hiccup was especially attached to this particular bunch, and sometimes they were referred to as "Hiccup's dragons."

As Hiccup and Toothless headed for the doors, Hiccup caught sight of Snotlout. He was sitting amongst his clan, who were talking quietly. Snotlout glanced up and saw Hiccup. He looked angry. Hiccup quickly looked away.

After the feast finally ended, Gobber sauntered cheerfully through the streets, humming to himself. He walked into the armory and was surprised to find Hiccup there. He was hammering out an oddly-shaped piece of metal. On the table next to him, was a row of freshly forged weapons: three swords, one ax, and a dagger. Toothless was lounging sleepily by the fire. Hiccup looked up as Gobber came in.

"Hi, Gobber," he said before returning his attention to hammering.

"Hiccup. Y'know, you ought to get in fights with Snotlout more often. You're more productive than usual!"

Hiccup laughed.

"You're not the only one who thinks that was a good thing. Dad's almost _proud_ of me."

" _Ehh_ ," Gobber grunted as he took a seat by the draftstable, "Well, if it means anythin' to ya, I would've bet on _you_."

Hiccup laughed again.

"I honestly don't think I'd stand a chance against him."

" _Heeey_ , you never know. After all, you have the agility and speed."

"Well, yeah. But I probably couldn't fight on my own between here and Valhalla."

"Aah, you mustn't be so hard on yourself, Hiccup. You've improved a lot! By the way, what're you fashnin' there?"

"Oh, it's a shoulder plate," Hiccup said and lifted it with the tongs to show Gobber, "I think it's time I got proper armor. I've had enough of the burns."

Since he began venturing out and meeting new wild dragons, Hiccup had obtained a few burns, most on his arms.

" _Aah_ ," Gobber said approvingly.

Just then, a voice from the doorway said, "Hey, Hiccup! Pssst!"

Hiccup looked and saw Tuffnut hunched in the doorway.

"Oh, hey, Tuff. Can I help you?" he asked curiously with a hint of wariness.

"Yeah. Listen, I need to ask you a favor," he said as he advanced further into the room.

Hiccup was slightly suspicious. What could Tuffnut want his help with? Anything the twins did or wanted to do usually involved danger or destruction. He couldn't imagine what Tuff might be coming to him for.

"Well, Ruff and my's birthday's coming up, and I was wondering if you could make something for her."

All suspicion evaporated from Hiccup's mind. As a matter of fact, he was pleasantly surprised and actually kind of proud.

"Wow, Tuff! I mean, I had no idea you and Ruff…well…did that sort of thing for each other."

Tuff blinked, looking a little thrown off. But then, he grinned slyly.

"Well, the thing is, Hiccup, it's going to be a _surprise_ …"

The suspicion returned instantly.

"Oh," Hiccup said disappointedly, "What kind of surprise?"

Tuff came closer and whispered loudly, "Something that _explodes_!"

Hiccup stared at his eager, mischievous face.

"Errrr…like a dragon egg?"

Tuff shook his head.

"No. Our birthday's in two weeks."

The nesting time for the dragons was mid-winter.

"Oh. _Umm_ …Wellll…" Hiccup said, glancing around at the floor.

" _Oo!_ _Oo!_ How about _an exploding box_! You can put, like, a sick terrible terror in it!"

"You gave 'er that two years ago, Tuff," Gobber said lazily from the draftstable.

"Oh! Darn it! Right!" said Tuff.

The next second, though, he perked up.

"How about an exploding _tube_ , then?" he said excitedly.

Hiccup looked at him incredulously.

"Uuh, I don't think I can make an exploding tube…Is there anything else you want?"

"No! It's gotta be the tube!" Tuff cried out, clearly set on the explosion idea.

"Errm. Well, ok. I'll see what I can do…"

"Thanks, Hiccup. Knew I could count on you."

With that, Tuff grinned and left the armory. Hiccup gazed tiredly after him.

"I'm going to regret this, aren't I?"

"Prob'ly. Those two have been tryin' to get me to help them kill each other for years now, but I've always found an excuse."

Hiccup laughed and turned back to his shoulder plate. The metal was too cold to work now, so he put it over the embers in the forge and pushed on the pump. Noticing his efforts, Toothless raised his head and shot a plasma blast into the fire.

"Thanks, bud," Hiccup said and took the metal back to the anvil.

For a few minutes, the armory was filled only with the clanging of the hammer and the pop and soft roar of the fire. Then, Gobber spoke up.

"Hey, Hiccup. Y'know, I been thinkin' abou' a title for you. How does 'Hiccup the Dragon Trainer' sound to you? I been havin' ma doubts about it. See, lots of people train dragons now, right? You need something that says you're _the_ dragon trainer…"

Hiccup sighed exasperatedly.

"Gobber, why do I need a title?"

" _Because_ , you're a great Viking. _And_ the son of a chief. For generations after this one, people are going to be calling you by that title. And it's better someone like me or your father make it up than someone out there."

He nodded to the window, through which the dark village could be seen. Hiccup made an " _ugh_ " sort of noise. He couldn't deny: people would tell stories about him, and they were going to use whatever title caught on. It _was_ better if Gobber, a respected figure in the village, established it first. And, apparently, "dragon master" had caught on to some extent…if Snotlout's words could be taken into account. Hiccup hated the phrase. It gave people the wrong idea. But still, even if a title was culturally necessary, he didn't really like the thought of being elevated like that.

"Honestly, Gobber," he began, as he turned and started pacing in front of the forge, "It just feels kinda awkward. And, I don't really wanna be chief anyway. I mean, honestly. Am I really the guy for the job?"

He stopped pacing and looked straight at Gobber, who was watching him carefully. Hiccup sighed and started pacing again.

"He should give it to someone who knows what they're doing…Like Astrid."

"Well," Gobber began in a thoughtful tone, "Astrid _could_ be chieftess. But you'd have to marry her first."

Hiccup stopped pacing and looked at Gobber.

"You're joking," Hiccup said.

Though Gobber's eyes twinkled with amusement, he answered, "No, really. You could marry her, then hand over your responsibilities."

Hiccup laughed.

"Guess I've got no way outta this, then. 'Cause she won't even talk to me after the sheep fiasco."

"Well, you did steal it," Gobber said matter-of-factly.

"I gave her another one!" Hiccup pointed out defensively.

" _Yes_ , but you know how she is."

Hiccup pouted, then asked hesitantly, "So, how long do you think until she gets over it?"

Gobber considered for a few moments, then finally said, "Well, knowing her, I'd give it a few weeks."

" _Weeks?!_ Ugh…"

"You'd better be thankful it's not longer! Hairy Hooligan women can be _veery_ begrudging. If that girl didn't already like you so much…" he trailed off.

Hiccup stood there, frowning slightly, but he had to concede. Gobber was right. He should be thanking the gods that she even exchanged words with him earlier.

"Yeah…" he sighed and picked up his shoulder plate.

He examined it for a few seconds, decided it was done, dunked it in the water barrel, and then placed it on the table. Then, he set to heating another piece of iron for the other shoulder while Gobber started to whistle, and Toothless dozed by the hot forge. While Hiccup hammered, he chuckled.

"Me marry Astrid…" he mumbled to himself.

" _Who_ marry Astrid?" asked a voice from the door.

Hiccup looked up and saw Ruffnut.

"Ah! Ruff! What's up?"

"Who's marrying Astrid? I had no idea…"

"Huh? Oh no!" he said, his voice quavering slightly, "No one's marrying Astrid!"

"But you just said—"

"I-I didn't say anything. You must've heard wrong—"

"Horseless the Shoe!" Gobber said loudly.

They both stared at him.

"I was jus' tellin' Hiccup about my friend, Horseless the Shoe. He lives in Bagowaug. And he was just tellin' me, in a letter, the other day, that he wants to marry a _Berserker_ maiden. And I told him, I said: 'Horseless, you can' go marryin' Berserker maiden, 'cause they'll cut your toes off soon as look at you.'"

There was a few seconds' silence, which was finally broken by Ruff.

"Uh…OK, well, anyway, Hiccup, I wanted to ask you about something."

"Errr, _yeah_ , what is it?" asked Hiccup, who was silently thanking Gobber for covering for him, and in such a way that easily terminated follow-up questions.

"So," she began as a devilish smile crept up her face, "Tuff and my's birthday's comin' up, and I—"

"Hoped I could make him a little _surprise_?" Hiccup finished wearily.

" _Yeah!_ That's it! Was _totally_ like you could read my mind…"

Hiccup smiled.

"Well, somethin' like that."

Ruff's eyes widened.

" _Whhhoa_ , no way. Dude, that's so cool…" she said in awe.

"Uhhhh, Ruff? I'm not really serious. I can't _actually_ read your mind," he clarified with a worried expression.

"Oh," she said as her face went blank, "…The surprise, though!"

"Oh. Yeah."

"How about… _an exploding box_!"

"Did that two years ago," Gobber reminded her.

"Oh…Well, it's gotta be something _big._ "

"How about an exploding _tube_?" Gobber suggested.

" _Yeah!_ That's a _great_ idea!" she exclaimed while Hiccup gawked at Gobber.

"Awesome! Thanks Hiccup. Knew I could count on you."

After she left, Hiccup turned to Gobber with an irritated face.

"You, Sir, are playing a dangerous game. You _reeaally_ put me in it this time, huh?" he said, shaking his hammer at the smiling Gobber.

Gobber eased himself off the stool.

"Don' worry. You're a smart lad. You'll figure somethin' out. Well, I'm tuckin' in for the night! See you in the mornin'!" he said cheerfully and made his way to the door.

"W- _wait!_ What? Are you serious?" Hiccup said exasperatedly as Gobber passed him, "And…I'm off work tomorrow!"

"Oh! Sorry. See you 'round, then!"

And Gobber was gone.

Hiccup sighed. He turned back to the iron he had been working and sighed again. He tossed down the hammer and tongs. He could finish it the next day. Then he looked over at the night fury dozing contentedly in the corner. Toothless would not be happy when he was woken.

Sighing again, Hiccup made his way over to his dragon.

" _Man, the stuff I'm put through,"_ he thought.


	3. The Trip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiccstrid for you! :)

That night, Hiccup dreamed he was soaring through pink, puffy clouds. The cool wind whistled through his hair and kissed his skin. Then a bird hit him on the nose.

" _What?"_ he thought.

He opened his eyes to see Toothless an inch away from his face.

" _Umph,_ " he grumbled as he weakly tried to smack the night fury's head away.

Toothless backed off, but he gave his boy an irritated look. Hiccup was always a little lazy in the mornings. Toothless wondered if the other Vikings were like him. Perhaps, it was just his age. Stoick was a little slow too, but he did get up and do what he needed to. Maybe it was just because he was the alpha. Anyhow, it didn't matter. Hiccup had to get up today. They had somewhere to go.

Toothless nudged Hiccup's side and growled.

" _Mmmfff!_ " Hiccup grumbled angrily, then turned his back to Toothless, "Stop it, Toothless! I wanna sleep today…"

Ah, well. He had hoped to avoid such measures, but…

Toothless head-butted Hiccup, knocking him out the bed.

" _Aagh!_ " Hiccup yelled as he rolled to the floor.

He popped his head up to glare at Toothless on the other side.

"You—" he began, but Toothless was pointing his nose meaningfully at the window to the right of Hiccup's bed.

"Wha…?" Hiccup said drowsily, then staggered to his feet, and walked around the bed to peer out the window.

Through the grey mist covering the village, Hiccup could make out the academy in the distance. The academy…

"The academy!" Hiccup exclaimed, "The trip! Oh, thanks, bud!"

He sighed in relief and patted Toothless, who purred smugly. Hiccup then proceeded to bustle about getting ready. Toothless, who had woken him at the correct time, would have told him that he wasn't late, but that was impossible, so he just lay down and tried to make calming noises. Finally, Hiccup had bathed, eaten, put on his armor, and packed his bag.

"Alright, bud. Ya ready to go?"

Toothless rumbled a "yes" and got up. They walked down the stairs, said goodbye to Stoick, and headed for the academy. The crisp air was refreshing, but Hiccup thought it looked like rain.

"Hope it's nothing worse than drizzle," he said to Toothless, who rumbled his agreement.

When they arrived at the academy, several students were already there, along with Astrid and Fishlegs.

"Good morning, guys!" he said cheerfully to the students.

"Good morning Hiccup!" they said back enthusiastically.

"Morning, Astrid, Fishlegs."

"Morning, Hiccup," they each said.

Hiccup stood a few feet from Astrid, while Toothless bounded over to greet Stormfly and Meatlug. Hiccup kept glancing over at her, trying to read her, but he couldn't. Her face was neutral, her arms were crossed, and she stared straight ahead. He slid a bit closer.

"So," he began, "Snotlout and the twins coming soon?"

She shrugged.

“I don't know. I didn't see any of them on my way here. Neither did Fishlegs."

"Oh, ok."

For a few minutes, Hiccup stood quietly, scraping his metal leg against the stone. Astrid examined the blade of her axe. Fishlegs explained Fear Class dragons to a student. Eventually, Hiccup walked off to the side to play with the dragons. More students slowly trickled in.

About seven minutes after Hiccup came in, Snotlout and Hookfang arrived.

"Alright!" he yelled loudly as he entered, "You ready to learn from Snotlout today, kids?"

Some of the students replied eagerly.

He stood in front of them with his hands on his hips and his chin up.

"Ok. You know _none_ of you will be in trouble while I'm around. When we get to Dragon Island, you just stick with me and Hookfang. We'll take care of you."

"Glad you're not late, Snotlout," said Astrid.

"'Course not. Have to set an example for the kids."

Hiccup and Toothless exchanged a _"really?"_ look, and Hiccup swore that he caught Astrid glancing at him with a similar expression before she returned to her stoic forward gaze.

About a minute later, Ruff and Tuff showed up on Barf and Belch.

"Great. We're all here?" Hiccup asked loudly as he stood and walked over to the blackboard, on which was a map of Dragon Island and a list of names.

There were four lists, each one with a rider's name as the header. Ruff, Tuff, and Fishlegs shared one. Under the headers were listed the names of the students.

"Ok, everyone, how are we doing today?"

"Good!"

"Awesome!"

"Fairly well, I suppose…"

"Um, ok, so today's the day that you've all been waiting for. The day we go to Dragon Island!"

The kids cheered and whooped.

"But, remember," Hiccup said, raising his voice, "This is a valuable _learning_ experience, a chance to see some real wild dragons. Next year, you guys are going to be 14 and allowed to have your own dragons, and that means you're going to be flying out there on your own. It's crucial that you know what's out there and how to handle it. And theory will only get you so far…So, I guess I'll just move on to the specifics."

He pointed at the lists.

"Fishlegs, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut will be responsible for Arvid, Eggbutt, and Halle. Astrid will be taking Eelleg and Gutrust. Britt, Dagmar, and Gustav, you're with Snotlout. And Bryndis and Ashnoggin, you guys are with me."

Bryndis sighed and shivered a little, and Ashnoggin whispered "Yes!"

Hiccup continued, "Fishlegs, Ruff, and Tuff's, group will be staying on the East side, where we'll all be landing. Astrid will be taking the South, I'm taking the North, and Snotlout's group is going west. We're all going to try to walk for the most part.

"And that's it…So, everyone got that? You all know who you're with?...Alright. Let's get goin' then. We've only got so much daylight…"

There was a flurry of motion as the students stood and rushed to their chaperones. Gustav pushed his way through the group with his head high and chest slightly out.

"Excuse me," he said, "Junior-apprentice-auxiliary-reserve-back-up-replacement-rider-in-training- _first-class_ coming through."

He hopped onto Hookfang's neck and sat proudly behind Snotlout. Britt and Dagmar gave him dark looks as they climbed on behind him. Gustav was only 12 and not even a student yet, but since he was an official member of the academy and only a year too young, the riders had decided to make an exception.

Bryndis climbed onto Toothless behind Hiccup. A pleased smile tugged at the corners of her lips. She actually reminded Hiccup of Astrid a little because of the sharp edge in her eyes. But Bryndis's eyes were black, as was her hair. Ashnoggin climbed on next.

"Hey, Hiccup," the brown-haired boy said as his eyes lit up, "If we're going to the north side of the island, does that mean we're gonna get to see _the Red Death_?"

" _Eh,_ " Hiccup muttered with a sly smile as he hooked in the cord that connected his belt to Toothless's saddle, "Maybe."

Bryndis shuddered again, and Ashnoggin silently pumped his fist in the air while mouthing the words _"So awesome!"_

"O-k," Hiccup said, pulling his helmet on, "You guys ready?"

"Yes!" they both said.

"You ready, bud?"

Toothless purred.

"Alright. Hey, everybody! We all ready to go?"

Everyone assented.

" _Ok!_ Let's head out!"

One after another, the dragons flew out the academy. They could handle the increased weight, but the pace was considerably slower. It would take about two and a half hours to reach the island. While they flew, Bryndis wrapped her arms around Hiccup's waist.

" _Odin…"_ he thought.

When they finally arrived at the East Beach and everyone had dismounted, Hiccup gave last-minute instructions.

"Remember, _don't leave_ your chaperone. If you get lost, it could take a while for us to find you, and this island’s full of things that would rather you not be here…So that's that. Have fun!"

Excited chatter broke out as the groups went their separate ways.

As he passed Astrid's group, who were going in the opposite direction, he said politely, "Bye, Astrid."

"Bye, Hiccup," she said just as politely.

Then he turned forward to see Toothless looking at him irritably.

" _Ugh._ What?" Hiccup retorted and then marched to the north.

Toothless huffed and followed.

Both he and Stormfly agreed: Astrid and Hiccup were being ridiculous. They just didn't understand why their humans were being so hesitant. Neither of them were interested in anyone else, and Astrid had already expressed her approval of Hiccup through the affectionate gestures of hugging and kissing. Hiccup had even presented her with gifts on certain occasions, and she seemed to like those, too. Their dragons didn't understand why they didn't just mate already. Toothless had recently begun to suspect that it had something to do with houses. He knew only the married humans had children, and to be married was to live in the same house. He wondered if Hiccup wasn't allowed to marry Astrid until he had his own house. In that case, Hiccup had better get a move on and build one, because it seemed he was always pining after her, and Stormfly had informed Toothless that Astrid did the same thing.

As Toothless mulled over the humans' obsession with houses, his group made its way through the outer edge of the forest.

"Further into the forest, you can find typhoomerangs and changewings. Typhoomerangs, they can be territorial, but they're not so bad once you get to know them. I doubt we'll see any, though, and we'll have plenty of warning if one comes close. Do either of you guys know how big they get?"

Ashnoggin piped, "30 feet tall, 110 feet wingspan."

"Excellent, Ash!" said Hiccup, turning and grinning at Ash, who beamed proudly.

"Yeah, you can easily see their heads above the trees," Hiccup continued, "and their way of flying is fairly conspicuous…But we're going to an area that is predominantly…"

"Gronckles and monstrous nightmares!" Bryndis and Ash exclaimed at the same time, making Hiccup flinch.

"Uh, great, exactly. Now, monstrous nightmares are tricky; they're really stand-offish at first. It's all about holding your ground, but also being respectful. What's one thing you should do?"

"Maintain eye contact!" Bryndis squealed before Ash could finish his sentence.

It went on like that for the rest of the walk: Ash and Bryndis competed for notability, blurting out answers, sometimes at the same time, sometimes over each other. After a successful meeting with a group of gronckles, Hiccup suggested that they all take a short lunch break so he could get a breather.

After about fifteen minutes, they went on their way again. The forest began to thin as they neared the North Beach, and they had to walk slower and more quietly.

"This is where we may start running into some monstrous nightmares. We'll definitely see some on the beach."

Sure enough, when the trees became thin enough for them to see the beach, they could make out about five monstrous nightmares.

"Ok, bud. Stay here," Hiccup said, reaching out a hand to Toothless.

If the other dragons saw Toothless, they would get especially aggressive, so Toothless crouched and watched as the three humans proceeded onto the beach. The closest dragon, a young brown one, started and growled loudly when it saw them. Hiccup reached out his hand and made a hushing sound while slowly bending his knees. Bryndis and Ash imitated his movements. The dragon and its peers narrowed their eyes and growled more. In the trees, Toothless tensed. He hated leaving Hiccup exposed like that. But he knew it would only make matters more complicated if he became involved.

Hiccup continued slowly, keeping his eyes locked on the dragon's. Eventually it stopped growling and merely eyed him suspiciously. Its peers had advanced a little. When Hiccup got within ten feet, he slowly began straightening up. The dragon twitched and snarled once but didn't back away. When Hiccup was erect, he stepped forward slowly with his left hand still extended.

"It's alright," he softly, "I'm not gonna hurt you. It's fine. I just wanna say hi…"

The dragon sniffed and came forward a little. They were five feet apart. Four feet…three feet. Hiccup reached out and stroked the dragon's long snout. It huffed a warm breath and smelled his hand. Hiccup grinned.

"Hi," he said, then looked over shoulder, "Do you guys wanna pet him?"

Ash and Bryndis slowly came forward and daintily pet the dragon. It went well with the rest of the dragons, too. Hiccup let them approach the others by themselves, and they did excellently.

"Amazing, you guys! That was great!" Hiccup said after they finished.

Ash grinned from ear to ear, and Bryndis blushed.

"Thanks, Hiccup!" said Ash.

"No problem! And, I think, as a reward, we could take a little trip…to the northwest side."

Both kids’ eyes widened, and they gasped.

"Yup," said Hiccup, grinning as he turned back to the forest to get Toothless, "We're going to see the Red Death."

They squeaked.

After saying goodbye to the monstrous nightmares, they mounted Toothless and flew along the coastline. Within a few minutes, the Red Death came into view. Her massive grey skeleton, which had been plucked clean by scavengers, lay on its side. Her scorched ribcage towered a hundred feet into the air, and looked like the entrance to a foreboding cave.

Even though it was they who brought her down, Hiccup and Toothless still got a haunting feeling. They had been here multiple times since the battle, but the terror and overwhelming power of the fallen queen was still fresh in their minds. Hiccup felt a sharp twinge where his left foot used to be.

Hiccup steered Toothless around the gargantuan head, landed behind it, and got off along with Ash and Bryndis.

"So, you guys can go look at it, and I'll just…" Hiccup trailed off, staring ahead.

Coming around the side of a large boulder was Snotlout's group.

"Uuh, Snotlout?" Hiccup called as the others approached, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm just taking the kids to see the Red Death, is all. Is there something wrong with that?"

"Uh, no. I mean, yes. This kind of isn't your side of the island."

"It's the northwest, isn't it?"

"Well, yeah. But it's more north than west…"

"Same thing. It's not a big deal."

"Well, it kinda _is_ because you're defeating the pur—"

Hiccup noticed the students staring at them.

"Uh, Snotlout, can we talk over here for a minute?"

As they walked away, Gustav called after them, "So, I'll just watch the kids then…"

When they were about fifteen feet away from the students, they faced each other. Snotlout scowled and Hiccup crossed his arms.

"Snotlout, this is not the time or place. Whatever happened yesterday at dragon racing—"

" _Unbelievable_ , Hiccup—!"

" _Hush!"_

Snotlout lowered his voice.

"Unbelievable, Hiccup, that I can't even walk onto a beach without you thinking it has something to do with you and dragon racing…"

"What? _You're_ making it about dragon racing. You're totally ignoring the guidelines of the trip so you can get under my nose! Today has nothing to do with dragon racing; it's about the academy. Can we please just put yesterday aside for now?"

Snotlout crossed his arms and said, " _You're_ the one who brought up yesterday! Beard of Thor, Hiccup, why does everything always have to be about you? I see what you do, with the _pity_ , and the _humble_ hero thing, and _Astrid_ —"

" _Astrid?!_ " Hiccup almost yelled, before hurriedly lowering his voice, "What does _Astrid_ have to do with anything?..... _Oh no_ … _no_ …You _totally_ lost interest in her, like, a year ago! You're only bringing that up now 'cause you want something to fight with me about! And y'know what? I'm not gonna play into this. So…can we please just get back to the academy stuff?"

Snotlout was biting his lip.

" _Please?_ For the kids?"

They both glanced over at said children, who were whispering together and peering at them.

Snotlout uncrossed his arms and said bitterly, "Fine."

Hiccup sighed and said with a sour edge, "Thank you."

They returned to their groups.

"Ok, team," said Snotlout loudly, "We've got about four hours before nightfall, so you better make it quick so we'll have time to head back."

Ash and Bryndis looked at Hiccup, who was rubbing the side of his head.

"Uh, yeah. But don't worry, we can fly back in no time."

For about thirty minutes, the students examined and even tried to climb the remains. Gustav, Dagmar, and Ash pressured Hiccup into telling them how he and Toothless brought the queen down, which annoyed Snotlout enough to make him walk off for a while. Finally, Hiccup made everyone get a move on. Hiccup's group flew back down the coastline, and Snotlout flew over the forest.

When they arrived back at the East Beach, they could see Astrid's group just arriving on foot. Standing in the middle of the beach, glancing from side to side and clasping his hands together was Fishlegs. Next to him, Ruff and Halle kicked at pebbles on the ground.

"Hey, Fishlegs," Hiccup called as he walked over.

"H-hi!" Fishlegs replied squeakily.

Hiccup peered curiously at him and saw that he looked rather pale.

"Uh, Fishlegs, are you alright? And where's Tuff, Arvid, and Egg?"

Fishlegs shuddered, and his eyes darted between the other riders again.

"Um…um…Well, _ha ha,_ don't worry. They'll be back soon."

He shut his lips tightly and stared at the ground. Ruff crushed a rock beneath her boot, and Halle kicked another pebble.

" _Fishlegs,_ " Astrid said, coming closer, "What are you worried about?"

"M-me? What should I be worried about? Tuff will be back soon. He just took them to use the bushes; they'll be back soon…"

"Why d'you keep repeating that?" asked Hiccup.

"Erm…Erm…"

Fishlegs squeezed his pudgy fingers together, and a drop of sweat ran down the side of his face.

" _Oh, alright!"_ he yelled shrilly, "Tuff took them to pee, then he came back and said they were lost, then he went back to get them, and we've been waiting for, like, ten whole minutes!"

" _What?!"_ exclaimed Hiccup and Astrid.

" _Why_ would you leave them alone with him?" asked Hiccup.

" _Yeah!"_ said Astrid.

"Yeah, that's what I said," agreed Ruff, "I told him he shouldn't leave anything with me or Tuff, 'cause we'll just mess it up."

"I-I-I was just explaining Boulder Class dragons to Halle, and then Tuff, he came up and said they needed to go, and I just…I just… _Ahhh,_ I'm sorry!"

Hiccup sighed.

"Ok, Fishlegs. What's done is done. Now let's just look for them."

"I'll go," Astrid said and began striding toward the forest.

"Me, too," said Hiccup, "Snotlout, can you help us? And Fishlegs, can you watch these kids while we're gone?"

"Yes, Sir," Fishlegs replied weakly.

"Ok," Hiccup said, addressing Astrid and Snotlout, "If you find somebody, just blow your horn. Once we've heard three, we'll know to go back."

All three and their dragons entered the forest. Snotlout headed off to the right, Astrid took the left, and Hiccup kept straight ahead. He and Toothless trudged through the gradually thickening forest. Hiccup called for Tuff and the kids, and Toothless gently roared and crooned into the growing twilight. Above them, the sky was turning orange and yellow, but the trees blocked out much of the light. The light that made it through was in splotches on the path. It would be difficult to see changewings.

After about fifteen minutes in the forest, Hiccup heard a horn blow to his right.

"Great, Snotlout found someone!"

" _Well, you can't say he's good for nothing,"_ he thought.

"We'd better head over there, bud. The rest are probably around there, too."

Toothless growled softly in agreement, and they turned to the right. After about eight minutes, they heard something approaching to the left. Hiccup froze, wondering if it was a dragon. He glanced down at Toothless, who was at ease, so Hiccup called out.

"Tuff? Eggbutt? Arvid?"

"Hiccup?" called Astrid's voice.

A minute later, Astrid and Stormfly came through the trees. Astrid was carrying her axe in one hand.

"I hoped you were one of the boys," she said.

"Nope. Sorry to disappoint you. So, are you following the horn?"

"Yeah. Guess we'll go together?"

"Yeah."

They walked on. Soon, Stormfly and Toothless caught onto a scent, and they followed it for several minutes.

"Eggbutt?!" called Astrid.

"Arvid?!" called Hiccup.

"Tuffnut?!"

"E—"

Hiccup froze.

"Astrid, _stop!_ " he whispered loudly.

She froze mid-step. Hiccup stared over her shoulder at the trees. Stormfly shuffled on her feet nervously, and Toothless's pupils narrowed as his plates pulled back. Behind Astrid were trees, but there was something off about them. There was a ripple of movement in the air between them. Astrid slowly turned her head to look beside her then back at Hiccup.

_"Changewing?"_ she mouthed.

He nodded.

Toothless nudged Hiccup's hand, and he looked down. There was wariness in his eyes, but not the kind that would be there if the dragon was on the offensive…

"Astrid…” he whispered, “I think it's asleep."

_"Are you sure?"_ she mouthed.

Hiccup looked to Toothless again for confirmation, and the dragon nodded.

"You'd better move. There are probably others around, and they'll wake up soon 'cause the Sun's going down."

Astrid nodded and looked around. In front of her was a log, and there was another between her and Hiccup. The branches still had crisp dead leaves on them. It was too great a distance for her to clear with one jump without making noise. Hiccup approached the log and held out his hand.

"Just jump off the log. I'll catch you and lift you over.”

She jumped on top of the log, grabbed his hand, and leapt off. She landed in his arms and was lifted over the leaves. Then, it was Stormfly's turn. She walked to the place Astrid had come over, cocked her head to examine the ground, gently flapped her wings, and came over in one bound.

"Good girl!" whispered Astrid and patted her head.

"'kay, let's go…"

"Right."

After they felt they had traveled a safe distance from the changewing, they began to call out again. They kept on for ten minutes straight, still with no answers. The sky was already turning pink, and they were getting frustrated. Finally, they stopped in a small clearing, with a tall, rocky hill at one end.

"Egg?"

"Arvid?"

No answer.

The two turned to each other to exchange aggravated looks. Then they blinked. They weren't used to being so close. Suddenly, they realized why they were so close. Simultaneously, they glanced down and saw that they had never let go of each other's hand.

Astrid pulled hers away and gripped the handle of her axe. Hiccup's hand twitch shyly to his side. They both turned slightly away, but Hiccup had to bite one side of his lip to try to contain the smile that crept onto his face.

"So…I guess we keep going…" Astrid murmured, "I mean, we haven't gotten any response at all."

" _Heh_ , maybe they're just scared of you," Hiccup offered jokingly.

Astrid chuckled dryly.

"Yeah, maybe."

"Maybe if you make a peace offering, they'll show themselves."

"Ok…"

Astrid looked out over the clearing. She placed one hand on her hip and brandished her axe in the other.

"Alright, whichever one of you comes out first, I _won't_ tie to a dragon root and leave on the island for _two hours_!"

From behind a boulder six feet away, popped Eggbutt's head.

" _Eggbutt!_ " they both exclaimed.

Astrid stomped over to him while Hiccup fumbled for his horn. When she reached him, she wrenched him up by his shoulder plate.

" _Ugh_ ," he grunted, shrinking away, "You said you wouldn't hurt me!"

"I didn't say I wouldn't hurt you," she growled, "I said I wouldn't tie you to a dragon root! What's wrong with you? Why'd you run off like that? Are you _stupid_? You could've been killed!"

"It was Arvid's idea," he whined.

"Where is Arvid?"

He pointed to the top of the hill.

"No way," she muttered, shaking her head, "Supreme idiots…Hel's Serpents… _Ok!_ Hiccup, are you going—?"

"Already on it," he replied as he and Toothless rose into the air.

“””””””””””””””

Down on the other side of the hill, Arvid was examining a pale rock. As he lifted it to crush an insect in the dirt, he was suddenly enveloped by a black shadow…

He yelped as he felt claws grip his shoulders and yank him from the ground. He screamed, thinking he was being taken to some dragon's nest.

" _You_ ," said a voice from above, "Are in _inexpressible_ trouble!"

""""""""""""""

When they flew back over the forest, each with a sore thirteen-year-old behind them, the sky was already a warm pink painted with bands of purple. Hiccup looked over at Astrid. The loose strands in her ponytail trembled around her face.

"So, how'd your kids do?" he called.

She looked over and grinned.

"Pretty good. Gutrust was really scared at first; you know how she is. But then, she kind of warmed up to it. I think we really made a breakthrough!"

"Awesome! And how was Eelleg?"

"Eelleg was, well, Eelleg."

" _Ha._ Yeah."

"How were yours?"

"Ah, they were…competitive."

Astrid laughed.

"Best quality there is!"

"Only with you."

She laughed again.

"But, yeah," he continued, "They did pretty amazing with the monstrous nightmares! I was pretty impressed."

"Good day for both of us, then!"

"Yeah."

Hiccup waited a few seconds before he asked the next question.

"So, Astrid," he began slowly, raising his eyebrows, "Are you not mad at me anymore?"

She smirked while giving him a sidelong glance.

"No," she said airily, "Not anymore…"

A smile slowly spread across his face.

"Sooo, it's all forgiven?"

" _Welll_ …for the most part."

He grinned at her. And she couldn't help it: She grinned back.


	4. Inspiration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hm...so once upon a time there was a story named Autumn in Berk with a mysterious end note that abandoned its original home, Chapter 1. That little end note jumped from one chapter to the next. Even if the author of the story went back to try and remove it or added a new end note, they never succeeded. And so, the end note continues through Autumn in Berk, traveling from chapter to chapter. Perhaps you will see it along your adventures. Mind the road!

"So, basically, everything's _great_ with Astrid, but Snotlout is more annoying than ever," said Hiccup in conclusion.

"Hmm…," said Gobber, "Well, congratulations! That must be the record for a Hairy Hooligan woman forgiving someone! As for Snotlout…well, you could always challenge him and get it over with."

Hiccup turned from the anvil to half-face Gobber.

"Really, Gobber, I don't think that'd work out. And challenging is kind of _extreme_ , don't you think? I mean, if I was going to fight him, which I'm _not_ by the way, I would want to do it privately…"

Gobber shrugged and said, "Well, no one does that around here. But, like you said, it's not going to happen, so…"

"Yeah! And, I don't really care about that anyway," Hiccup said as he leaned his back against the anvil and stared out into the night with a determined look and a faint smile.

"I'm gonna ask her," he said, somewhat to himself.

"Hm?"

"I'm gonna ask her to be my girlfriend," said Hiccup, nodding slightly as he continued gazing and smiling.

"Well, good luck with that. Tell me how it goes in two months."

Hiccup gave Gobber a look.

"I'm serious," he said firmly, straightening up, "I'm gonna do it…like, now."

Gobber stopped what he was doing and looked up, eyebrows raised.

"Right now?" he asked.

"Well," said Hiccup, glancing back at the anvil, "Not actually right, _right_ now, but, like, _soon_."

" _Aaahh_ ," said Gobber, slowly smiling, "Alright then."

Hiccup gave him another look, but went back to hammering.

They worked without talking for a couple minutes, then Hiccup piped up and said, "On top of Snotlout, I still have that thing for the twins…"

Gobber shrugged.

" _Eh_ , just give 'em a box! Seriously, one year, I told them we were out of metal and gave them each a plank of wood. They were _completely_ satisfied. And they paid me same way, too."

Hiccup whipped his head around.

"What? They _paid_ you? Are they paying me…?" he trailed off.

"Ah, but you see, it doesn't matter because you're their _friend_."

Hiccup pouted.

"Well, I don't even wanna do it…"

"Too late for that!"

Hiccup stepped away from the anvil.

"I mean, how would you even make an exploding tube, anyway? It'd have to have something flammable, like oil, inside it, but oil can't create an actual _explosion_ , so actually, dragon gas'd be better…But, to get some of that, I'd have to go take some out of a dragon's _throat_. And then, the lighting mechanism, well, that would be a flint, obviously, but it would have to be inside the tube, with a switch…and if the ignition is internal --"

"Uh, Hiccup," interjected Gobber, "I thought you didn't want to do it?"

"Oh, no! But, I'm just thinking…no reason…," Hiccup trailed off.

Since he didn't have to be at work that day anyway, Hiccup said goodnight early and went back home.

"Dad?" he called as he and Toothless came in, "I'm back...Nope, not here? Ok…"

He and Toothless went upstairs. Toothless curled up on his "bed"— a slab of stone – and rested his head between his feet. He was toasty from the hot forge and was quite ready to sleep after a long, exciting day. Hiccup sat on his bed, picked up his notebook, flipped to a blank page, and started sketching the exploding tube. Every once in a while, he glanced around while thinking. Once, his eyes landed on his first helmet sitting on a bed post. He looked at it for a moment, then smiled, reached down, and picked it up.

"Hey, bud," he said to Toothless, who opened his eyes.

He placed it on top of his head, where it sat oddly, seeing as he had almost outgrown it.

"Who am I?" he asked as he slid off the bed.

He struck a manly pose: back straight, chin in air, chest out, and one hand nonchalantly on a hip.

Hiccup said in a low, drawly voice, "Hey, Astrid. How's it goin'? Eh, I'm pretty good. I've been busy lately. I've just been doin' some work; y'know, liftin' some logs, throwin' some rocks…"

Hiccup and Toothless snorted.

"As you can see," he continued, lifting an arm, pulling back the sleeve, and holding his flat bicep, "It's really paying off."

"And," he said, reaching down and running two fingers sexily up his calf, "I've been workin' on my calves, too…Been liftin' calves…with ma calves…"

They both chortled, then Toothless sighed and tucked his head back in. Hiccup flopped back down on the bed, still smiling to himself. In just 60 seconds, the loud, deep sound of the sleeping Toothless's breathing filled the room. Hiccup went back to sketching, but continued his Snotlout impersonation, just to entertain himself.

"So, Astrid," he said in a creeper voice, "What have _you_ been doing?...Oh, ‘thinking about stuff’ s'not really my thing. It's bad for my health, gives me a headache, y'know? Ever since I was a boy, my dad told me, 'Son, never use your brain, because then you might start questioning why you do things like give kids wedgies and _kick them into the ocean_ , and a Jorgenson never questions himself!'…Yeah, but the 'smart' thing, I totally dig that in a woman…"

" _What?_ " Hiccup murmured, "Hiccup's the man of your dreams? No way…"

"Hiccup!" Hiccup heard his father say from the stairs.

Hiccup sat up like a rod as he tore the helmet from his head.

"Dad!" he yelped as his father emerged in the doorway.

Toothless groaned.

Stoick's face was dead serious.

"There's an emergency in the village! I think there's a dragon involved. You need to come. Didn't you hear it?"

"Er…"

Hiccup listened. Actually, he heard a faint yell in the distance.

"Uh,--"

"Never mind; come on," Stoick said impatiently as he turned and ran back down the stairs.

Hiccup jumped off the bed, but stopped to look at Toothless, who was blinking tiredly. He groaned again, but slowly got to his feet and followed Hiccup outside. They ran between houses, from which people were popping to find out what the matter was. The yells were coming from the far west side of the village. As they got closer, they could see an orange glow between the houses.

"Oh, no," said Hiccup.

"It's the twins," his father agreed.

When they got close enough, they saw exactly what was happening: Barf and Belch were standing behind a burning house, while the owner, Droughtface Baum, leapt around tossing water everywhere he could, and the twins stumbled around each other. It appeared that each was trying to push the other towards the dragon.

"Everybody!" Stoick bellowed as he stopped running, "I need water for this house! Get up, get a move on it!"

Then, he rounded on Ruff and Tuff.

" _WHAT?!_ —"

They froze.

"- _DO YOU_ —"

They shrank away.

"— _THINK YOU'RE DOING??!!!_ "

They opened their mouths, but nothing came out.

"Get some buckets!" he yelled, and they immediately obeyed.

Hiccup's body relaxed after his father was done raging. Old memories died hard.

Several dozen people came running with water to throw on the house. Hiccup, however, was looking at the dragon. He frowned. Something wasn't right. Barf and Belch's heads swayed slightly, and their eyes looked watery. Then, suddenly, Barf lurched forward and coughed, sending out a smoky stream of green gas over the house.

" _NO!_ " cried Droughtface in despair before he threw down his bucket and ran away.

Belch lurched and hiccupped, causing a spark.

"Get down!" someone yelled, and everyone did, just as the gas lit and exploded above the house.

Hiccup felt heat over him, but he quickly realized that it wasn't the explosion, it was Toothless. Everyone slowly raised themselves. Hiccup patted Toothless's head.

"Thanks, bud. You alright?"

Toothless purred reassuringly.

The explosion had caught the top of the house and was enough to make the roof cave in. The walls quickly followed.

After they watched the house slowly disintegrate in front of their eyes, Droughtface came forward and yelled, "I want a new house, Stoick! I want a new house _far_ away from these _nightmares_! I've lived next to them for _too long_! I'm done with it!"

That brought everyone's attention back to the twins, who were standing to the side, each with a bucket in hand. They stared fearfully at Stoick, who looked like he was carrying the wrath of the gods with him.

"What's wrong with your dragon?" he demanded.

Ruff said quietly, "Well, he snuck Barf some clovenut, so I snuck Belch some clovenut –"

"But you didn't think what would happen?!" screamed Droughtface.

"Sorry," Tuff muttered, "We're not really good at that…thinking."

Droughtface made a disgusted noise and turned away, but Stoick addressed them again.

"Well, you had better learn…at least _try_ , if you don't want to be a menace to our village. Do you understand?"

They nodded slowly.

"Yes, Sir."

"Now, get your dragon under control. Take it to the west cliff, and I don't want it back here until it is _completely_ better."

"Yes, Chief."

Stoick turned to Hiccup.

"Do you have the medicine for this?"

He nodded.

"Of course. Let me run to the house and get it," he said as he turned back.

After Hiccup gave Barf and Belch the medicine, everyone returned to their homes. Now, Hiccup was as ready for sleep as Toothless was. Back at their house, he and his father said a drowsy goodnight, and he followed Toothless upstairs. When he reached his bed, he put the helmet back on the post and picked up his notebook to put it on the side table. As he lifted it, he saw the picture he had drawn of the tube.

No use bothering with it. Was he really going to give it to them? As it was, he could hardly trust the twins with anything, barely even their own dragon. The image came back to his mind of Barf spraying the roof of the house and Belch hiccupping it into a disaster. What did they need anything else to make explosions for?

Suddenly, something clicked. He blinked, looked up, then looked back down at his drawing.

"Toothless, I've got it! I've figured out how to make an 'exploding tube'!"

Toothless groaned again.

"Ok, I know, but I'll tell you in the morning," he said eagerly as he jumped into bed.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

"Tell you in the morning" became more like "Tell you in the afternoon." Hiccup got up to get a start on development, but the dragon stubbornly refused to wake up. Hiccup didn't mind going it alone, though.

His first stop was the twins' house.

"Hiccup, _please_ don't take his gas away!" they pleaded as Hiccup leaned carefully into Barf's mouth.

Ruff seemed like she might start tearing up.

"We're _really_ sorry," said Ruff, "We _really_ are. We'll totally think about our actions from now on."

"Yeah," said Tuff, "It's not even Barf's fault. I made him sick."

"Yeah. Yeah, Hiccup, it's not Barfy's fault…"

"Guys," Hiccup said as he pulled himself out of Barf's mouth.

He looked at them seriously. In reality, Hiccup had no intention of removing Barf's gas gland. He only wanted to take what he needed for his project. But, he didn't see the harm in just messing with them a little, especially if he could benefit from it…

He continued, "It was a terrible thing you guys did last night…"

"Yeah, but –"

He held up his hand.

"And…," he went on, dragging it out dramatically, "I'm afraid I'm gonna hafta refuse to make your birthday presents now. As punishment, y'know? I'll make you something else, but not what you asked for. And, I'll only take a _little_ of Barf's gas…for now. Try not to make something happen again, ok, you two?"

"No! No way, Boss," they agreed enthusiastically.

"Great! So, if you'll excuse me, I just hafta…," he said as he leaned back into the dragon’s mouth.

In his left hand, he held a medium-sized wooden flask. He reached behind the foul-smelling, slimy tongue with his right hand and felt for the gland. When he found it, he pressed it gently and held the flask over it. The gas drifted up into the flask.

"Great," he muttered, and instantly regretted after tasting the smell on his tongue.

He reached back into his pocket and pulled out the stopper, which he inserted into the flask. Then, he leaned back out.

"Ok, guys, well, I'm gonna go back to my house now…to take a bath…"

"Ok. Great. Thanks, Hiccup," said Tuff.

"See ya," called Ruff as he walked away.

When he was a ways off, she turned to Tuff.

"What birthday present was he talking about that you asked him for?" she whispered harshly.

Tuff shrugged deliberately.

"I don't know. What birthday present was he talking about that _you_ asked him for?"

"I don't know…," she said as she glanced away.

" _Hmm_ ," mumbled Tuff as he rubbed his chin.

" _Mm-hm_ ," mumbled Ruff as she nodded.

Tuff shrugged, turned, and walked away.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

After his bath, Hiccup went upstairs to get his notebook and check if Toothless was awake yet, which he was.

" _Weelll_ , good morning, Your Highness," Hiccup teased as Toothless yawned and stretched his long back, "Did you have a good rest? You know, it's late afternoon, right? I'm about to go to the armory so I can get goin' with this thing."

He held up the sketch.

"D'you wanna come? Or, do you need some more beauty sleep…?"

Toothless blinked up at him with slightly annoyed eyes and yapped, making low guttural noises - his way of teasing Hiccup after a mocking monologue. Hiccup laughed. Nevertheless, Toothless got up, and they made their way to the armory together.

Hiccup quickly went into "invention mode", pouring over his plans again, bustling about the forge finding tools and materials, weighing pieces, adding something to his sketch, scratching something out, heating metal, and almost having a panic attack when he thought he lost something.

He had just finished laying everything out and was about to start when Astrid showed up.

"Hiccup?" she called from the doorway.

He looked up. She had her axe with her.

"Oh, hey, Astrid. What are doing here in the morning…I mean, afternoon...?"

She stepped in and asked, "Could you sharpen my axe?"

She held it out to him.

"Er, sure."

He took it and brought it to the sharpening wheel. He thought it was an odd request. It looked good already. But, he did it without asking any questions.

"You could cut hair with that," he said as he handed it back to her.

She grinned as she examined it.

"Maybe I could use it on my cousin Rowenna, then."

They laughed.

"Well," she continued, walking further in, "Quite a night, huh?"

"Oh, yeah."

She shook her head.

"It's unbelievable. They just keep raising the limits of destruction," she said incredulously as she walked slowly around him.

"Yeah…But, actually, it's kind of good for me because they asked me to do something for them, and now, I don't have to. Out of 'punishment,'" he said, making quotation marks in the air for the last word.

"Well, good for you. What was the thing they asked you to do?"

"Oh, it's actually really cool! Here, let me show you…"

He stepped past her to the draftstable and pulled her gently by the arm to stand beside him. He pointed to the sketches.

"Yeah, so, what they asked me to do, the both of them…well, _each_ of them, asked me to do was make an 'exploding tube'. Which sounds crazy, right? But, actually, it's not. I mean, it's possible. So, when I was thinking of it at first, -- Well, this is my original drawing -- So, I knew there was fuel inside with a flint and a switch connected to light it, and the fuel would be dragon gas 'cause y'know, oil, that's just gonna make fire. But, I didn't like the idea of it 'cause it would just blow up in the user’s hand. I mean, I know the original purpose was to _hurt_ somebody, right, but, y'know. And, I don't know _why_ , but I felt like I could do something _else_ with it, but I wasn't sure what, exactly...

"So, anyways, that's what I was looking at when Dad came and told me that there was an emergency. So, y'know when Barf coughed that gas and Belch lit it and blew up the roof?...Yeah, well, when I got back home and saw this again, I totally realized what I could do! Don't leave the fuel _in_ the tube. _Release_ it through an opening, and have the flint on the _other_ end, so that way, you can just _spray_ it wherever you want. I mean, it could be offensive, I guess, but it's _great_ for defense. And, can you _imagine_ if I went into a dragon nest with this thing? I mean, what would they _think_? Gods, they might even think _I'm_ a _dragon_ , or something! It'd be _amazing!_ _Right?_ "

He beamed at her, holding the final draft in his hand. She was staring at him with her elbow resting on the table, her cheek in her hand, and a faint smile on her face. She looked kind of distant.

"Uh, Astrid?" he asked, raising his eyebrows slightly, "Uh, that'd be pretty cool, right?"

She blinked and straightened up.

"Yeah, totally! Sorry…I was listening, I was just…kind of…," she said, smiling but glancing to the side.

"What?" Hiccup asked slowly, worried that he'd bored her with his geeky monologue.

She looked at him again, still smiling.

"Well, it's just," she began slowly, "When you get excited about your work…you get really animated…and your eyes get big…and it's really cute."

Hiccup was surprised. It was the first time she had complimented him on his looks like…like _that_. If she said anything about them at all, it was usually that his armor looked better or his hair looked nice.

"…Oh…Thanks."

He felt like he could blush. He wondered if he was.

"But," he said hesitantly, "You're honestly a… _billion_ times cuter than I am…"

She beamed at him.

"Well," she said in a voice slightly higher than normal while twisting her foot on the ground, "That's a very sweet compliment, Sir."

"I couldn't speak anything but the truth, M'lady."

In the corner, Toothless was trying to make himself smaller.

Just then, Gobber walked in.

" _Hel-lo_ , Hiccup! Seems you're always in the –"

Hiccup felt the world fall from beneath him.

"GOBBER!" he yelled before he clapped his hand over his mouth.

"Oh," whispered Gobber when he saw Astrid, "So sorry. I'll just…"

"No, it's alright!" interrupted Astrid, reaching out a hand, "I'm just gonna go…back to my house…now."

Gobber was already out the door, but she stepped away from Hiccup.

He felt like screaming.

"Sorry, Hiccup," she said in a hushed voice, reaching out and touching his arm, "I'll see you later."

"'Kay," he muttered hoarsely.

He was afraid of opening his mouth.

After she left, Gobber stood just in the doorway, watching Hiccup anxiously.

"Sorry, lad…," he murmured.

Hiccup stared at him, then collapsed onto the draftstable and growled loudly. Gobber glanced over at Toothless. He was glaring at him.


	5. Closure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone! In this chapter, Hiccup gets going with the Inferno prototype. I hope you guys think it's cool! :}

Hiccup was in the armory for the rest of the afternoon and into the evening. Gobber had left almost immediately after a final soft apology, leaving Hiccup scowling at the draftstable. He quickly set to redirecting his attentions, though. Sure, he was mad at Gobber, but he knew it would probably blow off by morning. He'd been disappointed so many ways, so many times before. The one retreat for him had always been his work.

The first thing he did was put together the tube. It was incredibly difficult. The tiny pieces had to fit together perfectly: there couldn't be any spaces, or else the gas would leak out. After assembling the small device (which he decided was more appropriate to call a "canister" instead of a "tube," since it was only 5 inches long by 1.5 inches in diameter), he opened one end, held it over the gas flask, and carefully removed the flask's stopper. Once all the gas had drifted into the canister, he quickly shut the end.

He lifted it up in front of him. It was done. Toothless came over and sniffed at it, then hummed and looked at him inquisitively. He was looking forward to seeing it work, as well.

"Alright, bud," said Hiccup as he backed away from the table and his dragon, "Give me some space. We're gonna try this thing out…"

Toothless obeyed and sat back on his haunches with his plates raised curiously. Hiccup stood right next to the water barrel, just in case.

"Ok…here we go…," he said excitedly.

Toothless crooned encouragingly. Hiccup clicked the switch that released the gas, and a thin stream emerged from the canister.

"Ok, that works. Now let's try this…"

He spun it around and clicked the switch to light the gas, tensing his body and leaning away…

But nothing happened.

He frowned and clicked it again, and again, but it still didn't work.

"Oh, _come on!_ _Really?_ " he complained as he inspected the flint at the end, "Don't tell me I didn't connect it right. Now, I'm gonna hafta open it up and redo the switch!"

Toothless grumbled disappointedly.

" _I know!_ " Hiccup agreed, then sighed, "What a downer…"

He sighed again as he looked at the device he had so carefully put together, then he tossed it on the table and turned away.

"I'll fix it tomorrow…"

After that, he contented himself with finishing his armor. The only metal in it were the shoulder plates because he didn't want to be weighed down when they were flying. There was another reason he didn't want a lot of weight, but he had never told anyone about it. Even he couldn't deny how unnatural it was: wanting to fly by himself. But he couldn't stop thinking about it. Anyway, he was pretty sure it was impossible. It had to be.

Hiccup already had the leather he needed in the armory. He had been working on it at home, – cutting it, sewing in a scale design - and he had just brought it down the other night. All he had to do was sew the sections together. He added a place in the equipment sash for the canister, and he stuck it in its spot when he was finished. Looking at the whole product, he was quite pleased. He thought he actually might look pretty cool in it.

By that time, it was mid-evening, and he was feeling a bit hungry. Toothless had left briefly once to catch some fish, and Hiccup had eaten one, but now he was ready for a real meal.

" _Hah!_ _” he sighed and pulled the armor towards him,_ _“_ You ready to go to the Great Hall, bud?"

Toothless crooned a "Yes!" and got to his feet. Hiccup was trying to lift his armor up into his arms, but that proved difficult because the brand-new leather was still inflexible, so Toothless offered to carry it. As they walked back, Hiccup looked at the canister. He figured once he actually saw it work, he might be inspired to name it. "Gas-filled canister" really didn't have any flair.

"""""""""""""

The next morning, Hiccup got up early. The weather was mild, and pale blue daylight was just starting to diffuse over the horizon. He hopped out of bed and went downstairs, being careful not to wake Stoick. He grabbed two buckets, then went down to the docks, and hauled back water to toss in the tub. He had to make two trips before he had enough. Then, he undressed, braced himself, and stepped into the hypothermia-inducing water. Toothless was asleep, and building a fire himself and waiting for the water to heat up would take too long. He shuddered furiously as he rubbed his skin with the coarse brush. He tried to do the same with his hair, but it tugged painfully on the knots, and he couldn't feel his butt or his feet, so he just threw water on his head and ran his fingers through it.

Finally, he climbed out and hurriedly dried himself off with his towel as Toothless came down the stairs, looking at him inquisitively.

"I'm goin' back upstairs, bud," Hiccup whispered as he wrapped the towel around himself.

He shivered as he climbed the stairs, with Toothless right behind. In his room, he threw on clothes, and took out his armor from underneath the bed. He put it on, then turned to face Toothless.

"Do I look better with the armor on?"

Toothless cocked his head, looking him over, then nodded.

"Great," Hiccup murmured as he glanced around his room.

Satisfied that everything was in order, he faced Toothless.

"Ok…Well, I'm going over to Astrid's..."

Toothless nodded and gave a low grumble of encouragement. He walked forward and nudged Hiccup's torso. Hiccup gave him a pat.

"Thanks, bud. I’ll see you," he said as he turned and ran down the stairs.

Stoick was up and starting the fire.

As Hiccup reached the bottom of the stairs, he looked up and grunted, "Mornin'."

"Morning, Dad," Hiccup replied without pausing on his way to the door.

Suddenly noticing his son's new outfit, Stoick called, "Where're you goin'?"

"Out!" called Hiccup as he shut the door.

He walked briskly, but stopped to pick a flower growing beside a house. When he reached Astrid's door, he knocked twice and stood back, holding the flower behind his back. Her mother answered.

"Hiccup," she said, nodding to him.

"Morning, Mrs. Hofferson," he said slowly, "Can I talk to Astrid?"

"Oh, she's not here. You just missed her. She went down to old Rowe's Bay."

"Oh! Ok. Thank you very much!"

As he turned and ran off, Mrs. Hofferson glimpsed the flower in his left hand. She smiled a little.

"Girl's going to marry a chief," she mumbled in a pleased voice as she turned away and shut the door.

Hiccup walked through the forest on his way to Rowe's Bay.

"Hi, Astrid," he said to himself, "How're you?...I'm good. Look, I'm sorry to bother you, but-! _No!_ Why are you apologizing?!

"You look beautiful. As always… _Ugh_ …Y'know I've like you for a long time…"

He made a vomit noise.

"Freyja, help me."

But, as Hiccup knew, sometimes, it seemed he was the gods' favorite man, and other times, he was almost sure that they hated him.

As he came near the bay, he tried to calm himself and took some deep breaths.

"Ok, it's fine. You've got it under control. She already likes you…All you gotta do is say it…"

He walked till he reached the edge of a deep hollow. The green, sloping sides led down to the tiny, navy blue bay. On the edge of the circular bay stood Astrid with her back to him. She was undoing her braid. She hardly ever had her hair out; this was probably only the second time he'd seen it like that. He gazed at her, hesitating and rolling the flower stem between his fingers.

When she finished unbraiding her hair, she ran her fingers through it. Then, she reached down and removed a boot.

" _What? She's taking a bath?"_ he thought, _"_ Man _, I have bad timing."_

He was about to decide whether to interrupt her then or wait till later when he heard a noise behind him. He turned around and saw that someone was walking through the forest towards him.

" _What? Oh, gods…"_

Thinking he'd better run down into the hollow before the person ruined any chances he had of being alone with Astrid, he looked back down.

She was lifting off her shirt.

" _Oh, gods!"_

He whipped his head back around. Now, he had no choice; he was going to have to wait till later. And, the person who was walking had become visible between the trees.

It was Snotlout.

"Hiccup," he said in a cool voice.

"Uh…Hey…Snotlout."

Hiccup stood stiffly with his hands behind his back.

"What'chyou lookin' at?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing!" He answered quickly.

Snotlout narrowed his suddenly interested eyes. He stepped closer.

"Doesn't seem like nothing. You're not acting like it's nothing."

Hiccup said in a smoother tone, "Trust me, Snotlout, it's honestly nothing. I was just gonna go back to the village. Do you wanna walk with me?"

He stuck a leg out in the direction of the village, but Snotlout didn't seem likely to follow.

"You doin' some secret nerdy stuff in that hollow?" he teased as he tried to peer through the trees.

"No. I, honestly, wasn't even down there…What are _you_ doing in the forest?"

"Exercising," he said simply as he tried to peer around him.

" _Of course,"_ thought Hiccup.

"What's your deal, man?" Snotlout demanded irritably, "What are you trying to hide?"

He was now only three feet away from Hiccup, who took a step back.

"Snotlout, please!" Hiccup suddenly blurted.

Snotlout froze and looked Hiccup in the eye, raising an eyebrow.

"Please, what?"

"Don't."

Slowly, a grin spread across Snotlout's face.

"Why not?"

"Just, please, Snotlout. Let's just go, ok?"

The empowered meathead crossed his arms and looked at Hiccup's grave face. Then, suddenly, he darted around him.

Panicking, Hiccup stomped on Snotlout's foot. Snotlout howled in pain as Hiccup bolted away from him.

"Sorry, Snotlout!" he called over his shoulder.

Hiccup was tearing through the trees, but it wasn't long before he heard the sounds of pursuit.

Snotlout screamed from behind him, "Hiccup! You stop right now! Stop, and fight me like a man!"

" _Why me, Odin, why always me?!"_

Hiccup tripped on something and rolled, but he quickly picked himself up and kept running. It seemed like he ran forever. Snotlout kept yelling at him about being a man and "settling this once and for all." He hoped Snotlout would eventually just get tired and fall behind so Hiccup could hide somewhere, but he doubted that would happen. He might have been the faster of the two, but he was definitely not the more athletic. He was running on adrenaline at that moment, but he was already starting to gasp for air.

Eventually, he came to a field of boulders. He had to slow down as he ran around them, and he felt the burning in his legs as he did. He realized that he had to stop, he had to calm Snotlout down.

" _But I haven't got anything to protect myself with!"_ he thought in frustration.

However, as he jumped over a small rock, he happened to see the canister.

"Oh my gods! The canister!" he gasped.

At this point, he had cleared the boulder field. Several feet away, the trees started again. He ran behind one and wrenched the canister from the sash. He peeked around the trunk. Snotlout was almost at the end of the boulder field. Hiccup clicked the switch and made a semicircle of gas in front of himself. Then, he spun it and clicked the lighting end.

"Please work," he begged, "Come on…!"

Snotlout was past the boulders. Hiccup clicked the switch again, and again, and again…

Snotlout ran into the forest, glanced around, and saw Hiccup.

"Hiccup!" he yelled, raising his fists, "Prepare yourself!"

The gas exploded. Snotlout and Hiccup both jumped back, out of the fire's reach.

" _WHOA!_ " Snotlout yelled.

After the explosion, grey smoke drifted through the air between them. Snotlout gaped at Hiccup, who grinned.

"W- _wow_ ," he almost giggled, "It _actually_ worked…"

"That was _you_?" Snotlout asked incredulously.

"Yeah! Well, it was this…," he said, holding up the canister, "I mean, it was broken last night –"

He suddenly remembered why he had used it.

"Oh! Snotlout, listen," he began, holding out a hand placatingly, "I'm sorry I stepped on your foot. I really am. But…I had to."

Snotlout scowled as he remembered his vendetta again.

"You _had_ to? With your _metal_ leg?"

"Uh…Yeah, uh, sometimes, when you lose a limb, you get some spasms, so, yeah, I had to. Couldn't help myself…Sorry."

Snotlout's face relaxed a little, and he lowered his fists.

"Spasms? Really?"

"Yeah," Hiccup said as he slowly lowered his hand.

"And…," he continued hesitantly, "Maybe…you and I should talk about the other stuff going on between us."

"Like the other day at dragon racing?" Snotlout asked darkly.

"Yeah," Hiccup agreed, nodding, "Like that. And the thing on Dragon Island, too."

Snotlout bit his lip.

"Yeah," he mumbled, "Maybe that stuff really didn't have to go down like that."

"Yeah, it really didn't. I mean, you and I, we're on the same team, and if we're on the same team, but we can't understand each other, then I'm just as much responsible for the team not working as you might be."

Snotlout sighed and crossed his arms.

"Y'know, when you said that stuff about me at the race…," he began slowly, "You weren’t _completely_ wrong. I mean, I don’t listen _sometimes_. Not always, but _sometimes_. It's just that you said it in front of _everyone_ , y'know? And it was like…kind of… _embarrassing_ for me…"

Hiccup blinked in surprise.

" _Wow! Snotlout knew I was right! Man, I never knew he was so mature…"_

"Snotlout, I'm sorry. I promise, if I ever have anything serious to say to you again, I'll do it in private, ok?"

Snotlout looked at him for a few seconds, then nodded.

"Yeah," Snotlout said, "And I promise I won't crash into you again…too roughly, I mean."

"Great! And you'll follow my orders?"

Snotlout thought about it deliberately for a second, then shrugged with a small smirk and said, "Yeah, sure."

Hiccup grinned.

"Sooo, we're all good?" he asked as he reached out his hand.

"Yeah," agreed Snotlout, as he put his hand into Hiccup's, "We're good."

They shook, and Hiccup put the canister back in the sash.

"How's that thing work?" asked Snotlout.

"Oh, it's got hideous zippleback gas inside and a flint on the other end."

"Cool! Can I have one?"

" _Eeh_ ," said Hiccup as they began walking back, "It's a prototype."

He was going to have a lot of trouble keeping Snotlout and the twins off this thing.

As they walked around the boulders, Snotlout said seriously, "Hey, Hiccup. Just so you know, I'm not _actually_ still into Astrid."

Hiccup stared at him.

" _Tell me something I_ don't _know."_

"Good to know, Snotlout," he said, "Good to know…"


	6. Astrid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second to last chapter! The next one is a cute little epilogue that I added on because Fanfiction.net doesn't allow author's to use a chapter just for author's notes. Over there, half the chapter was the epilogue and half was my notes. It was my first fic, so I had a lot to say. :\

The next morning, Hiccup and Toothless flew. It had been such an exciting week, that they hadn't flown alone at their usual schedule or as much as they usually did. It was wonderful to get out above the clouds again, leaving the everyday fuss and worries of Berk behind. Up here, Hiccup felt liberated and almost enlightened. He could almost feel the invisible boundary between Midgard and Asgard, like there was barely anything between the worldly earth and the bliss of eternity. The Sun was sending down warm rays, even though the white blanket of clouds was too thick for the cold earth to receive them.

But Hiccup and Toothless could bypass that barrier and enjoy the Sun for as long as they wanted. For almost two hours, they weaved in and out of the clouds, soaking up the light, until, inevitably, Hiccup made Toothless head back down.

"Yeah, I know, bud," Hiccup said as he patted the disgruntled night fury, "But I promise we'll go out again this evening."

Toothless growled, begrudgingly accepting the recompense.

When they landed next to the forest, Hiccup slid off, and Toothless promptly began walking away.

"See ya," Hiccup said, waving.

Toothless crooned over his shoulder.

Hiccup went straight into the forest, came out a few minutes later with a tiny bouquet of flowers, and strode off to the village. When he reached the Hofferson's door, he knocked twice and stood back with his hands behind his back. Mrs. Hofferson answered again.

"Hiccup."

"Morning, Mrs. Hofferson. Is Astrid here?"

"Sure she is," she said.

" _Are her clothes on?"_

Mrs. Hofferson quickly called over her shoulder, "Astrid!"

Astrid appeared in the doorway as her mother disappeared. She looked at him curiously.

"Hey, Hiccup. What's up?"

He stood there with a tight jaw for a moment, then suddenly stepped forward, holding out the bouquet.

"These are for you."

"Oh!" she said as she blinked and took them.

Having handed over the gift, he returned to his former position, then brought his arms to his sides, then scraped his thumbs with his fingernails. Astrid stared at him, and he stared back, but there was an intensity in his eyes that was almost angry. Finally, he opened his mouth and, a moment later, spoke.

"Astrid…Doyouwannabemygirlfriend?" he blurted tersely.

She kept staring at him, and he bit his lip. Then, she slowly smiled.

He was filled with ecstatic relief.

" _Well, that's good!"_ he thought.

She stepped down and walked towards him. He braced himself (for some odd reason), but when she came close enough, she grabbed him gently by the shoulder, and pulled him in for a kiss.

It was significantly longer than the other ones – the longest of which lasted all of 2 seconds – which actually gave Hiccup the opportunity to kiss her back for the first time. As they kissed, he hesitantly reached up and rested his hands on her waist.

After about 7 seconds, she pulled away. The corners of her lips tugged up, and though her eyes were still soft, they had a flirtatious edge that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

"I've been waiting for _-ever_ for you to ask me that," she said in a playfully chiding voice.

"Well…I'm sorry," he mumbled, making her laugh, "Is that a 'yes', then?"

She tilted her head slightly to the left and raised an eyebrow.

"Of course it is, you muttonhead."

She placed her hand on the back of his neck, and he started smiling.

"'Kay," he mumbled as they both leaned in.

At first, his hands stayed on her waist, but then he gently held her upper arms. Her right hand clenched his hair while her left pressed against his chest. They held each other close, forgetting they were out in the open. Hiccup almost couldn't believe what he was doing. He was enthralled at how ardent it was, and he felt amazing.

Their lips parted, and Astrid turned her head to the right, moving her hands to his upper arms, as well. Hiccup quickly closed the infinitesimal space between them, just before Ruff and Tuff's voices sang out from somewhere near and high above them.

" _Hi_ -ccup and _As_ -trid,

Standin' on the ground,

K-I-S-S-"

In a second, Astrid stepped back, yanked the knife out of Hiccup's sash, and threw it straight over his shoulder. There was a dull _thunk_ sound, immediately followed by a horrible shriek.

"Oh my _gods_ , Astrid!" Hiccup yelled, as he started to turn around, but she grabbed him by the shoulder.

" _Astrid!_ "

He struggled against her, but she wouldn't let him go. Behind him, he heard Ruff yell for a doctor.

"Oh my gods, Astrid…" he said, staring at her, but she just smiled, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him, still holding the bouquet in one hand.


	7. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEEEYYY! XD  
> This is the end! I hope you enjoy. This epilogue is kind of distinctive from the rest of the story because it's from Astrid's POV, but it's always cool to get into her awesome head. :)

The night was temperate for Berk. The moon shimmered on the calm ocean's surface, and the only sounds were the waves sloshing against the land. Astrid lay curled up on her bed, staring through the darkness at the wall. Outside, in her stable, crouched Stormfly, who was slowly drifting off to sleep. Astrid couldn't sleep, though. Really, she probably _could_ sleep, if she would just let herself. But she couldn't let herself. She couldn't _make_ herself. She bit her thumb gently as she gazed at the rough boards.

" _I'm so in love with Hiccup,"_ she thought.

Her mind danced around the memory of earlier, when he kissed her, and they held each other, and she became his girlfriend…It was so unreal. It was perfect. She couldn't even believe how perfect it was…..at least, before the twins screwed it up. She had to remember to get Ruff next…

But it was so unreal. Hiccup himself was unreal. How was it even possible for him to _exist_? She imagined him, talking excitedly, with his little bouncy gesticulations, then she imagined her fingers sliding up into his messy hair. She felt a palpitation and a rush of blood.

" _I'm_ so _in love with Hiccup,"_ she thought in wonderment.

Then she caught herself.

" _Stop it!"_ she thought, _"Go to sleep!"_

Reluctantly, she reached down and pulled up her blanket. She drew it close around herself and closed her eyes. Gradually, her body relaxed, and her breathing slowed, but as the warmth and quiet pressed in around her, her mind started to wander…

She huffed, kicking of the blanket. She knew the cool air might keep her awake, but she figured that'd be better than being distracted all night by something warm. She sighed and put her hands under her cheek.

Outside, the waves washed the bottom of the cliffs and whooshed softly as they whirled around the rocks off the coast. Stormfly had just fallen asleep.

"Oh, calm down!"

Stormfly started and cocked her head, listening intently for several moments, but no more noise came from Astrid's room. Satisfied that nothing was happening to her girl, Stormfly adjusted her wings, laid her head back down on her chest, and closed her eyes. The sea spray hissed softly, accompanied by Astrid's, " _Shut up!_ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Much more Hiccstrid to come from me. I have a couple more stories to move over here, and I am still working on a new one, though it's for a different fandom.  
> Farewell to that hopping end note! And fare well, all!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!!! :D  
> Please comment, if you like.


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